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Monitor Upgrade
- Thread starter Pinfinity
- Start date
WildWestDesigns
Active Member
It depends on the outputs of the PCs and the inputs on the TV. If you have a monitor that has to different types of inputs(say VGA and DVI) and you one PC that takes DVI and the other that takes VGA then it should work. The only downside is that you would have to switch the input on the monitor so it knows which one to display(or if it has PiP then you could have it run at the same time).
There might be another way too, it just depends on what's available for video switcher boxes.
The former is more probable. I know the Cintiq has DVi and VGA cables, so in theory I could run two PCs off of it, I would just have to switch the input on the monitor so it knows which connection to use at any given time. I don't think it has PiP, but maybe the new one does, I'm used to the old one.
WildWestDesigns
Active Member
Well if you can put one pc in one input and plug the other pc in the remaining input then it should work. You'll just have to go to "Input 1" if you want to do design work and "Input 2" if you want to do internet, or email etc.
Brandon708
New Member
I have a 27" HP 2710 Full 1080p HD monitor. At first i thought it might be to big but it is perfect. I will post up a picture when I get a chance.
signmeup
New Member
Thanks Brian. That sounds like it might be just the thing. Is this a mechanical switch or do you make the change on screen somehow? I would hook up more monitors but I don't have much desk space. Also using the same mouse and keyboard would kinda be a requirement for me.
I'll go google kvm......
W
wetgravy
Guest
I agree with that statement. A LOT of shops don't want to upgrade the systems and least of all the monitors when they do things like ... oh upgrade software (couple grand at a time), plotters (what ... 4k ... 5k) and their printers (upto 30k?). Only makes sense to get machines that can run more efficiently when upgrading other bits of the shop.
As for my home setup, I have dual 27's ... dells i think ... been a while since i debadged the cases. When it came to upgrading ... it was the only thing bigger than my 19" crt's and wide screen just eats that vertical height.
SignManiac
New Member
Pin, here's the setup that I use. The monitors are Dell E2310H 23-inch Widescreen Flat Panels. My middle monitor is used primarily for my design work in CorelDraw, Photopaint, and FireFox and Quickbooks. These applications are always running and I switch between them on the fly.
My left hand monitor always stays the same with all of my applications organized on top, along with Snag it and my music media player. Right hand monitor has all of my emails and to the right of that is a word file with every clients contact information right at my fingertips. I have years worth of client names and if I should need to locate one fast, I use Ctrl-F, type the name and I find it instantly.
It's all about speed and speed is money. I can't imagine ever trying to work the way I do with one monitor. It would drive me nuts
I had a forth monitor setup briefly but it was getting a little crowed on my desktop.
My left hand monitor always stays the same with all of my applications organized on top, along with Snag it and my music media player. Right hand monitor has all of my emails and to the right of that is a word file with every clients contact information right at my fingertips. I have years worth of client names and if I should need to locate one fast, I use Ctrl-F, type the name and I find it instantly.
It's all about speed and speed is money. I can't imagine ever trying to work the way I do with one monitor. It would drive me nuts
I had a forth monitor setup briefly but it was getting a little crowed on my desktop.Attachments
shakey0818
New Member
i just bought 2-40" toshiba 1080p HD/lcd tv's for duel monitors $500 each at sears they look great
dj_elite
New Member
Just check the specs and make sure you get a monitor that your graphics card can handle. Some LCDs highest resolutions are weird and unsupported by most video cards. This is what you need to look out for on the Dells. Dell makes both high end and low end LCDs and they are not all created equal. You dont want to get stuck with one of those. The ones with the good specs are usually made by Samsung or LG anyways so it doesnt really matter the company. I chose an AOC. AOC is made by Vizio, which I believe buys parts from Samsung. Looks great. I've had it over a year with no problems.
Letterbox Mike
New Member
Love my Dell Ultrasharp 30", cannot imagine going smaller now. I'm considering getting another one to have two dual 30s.
I know a lot of people are going the flatscreen TV route for their monitors, but be aware, just because they're big doesn't necessarily translate to a larger picture. Remember, on a 50" 1080P TV, the resolution is only 1920x1080 pixels, which is a lot for TV but not so much for a computer monitor which displays at a much higher resolution. In fact, a 1920x1080 pixel dimension is equivalent to most average 23"-25" computer monitors (my 30" is 2560x1600 pixels, significantly higher resolution than 1080p). In other words, a big TV just enlarges what you see on the monitor, but it doesn't necessarily give you more "real estate". Take that into consideration when buying a display.
Also remember, just because it's an LCD monitor doesn't mean it's going to be good. The higher end the monitor, the more accurate the color and the crisper and clear the image. If you need to calibrate your display to match an output device, don't expect to get good accurate color from a budget $150 monitor, it's not likely to happen in most cases. The better/more accurate color/image you need, the higher the price. NEC, Samsung, Apple, Lacie, Dell and others all have excellent high-end options that are highly calibrate-able.
I know a lot of people are going the flatscreen TV route for their monitors, but be aware, just because they're big doesn't necessarily translate to a larger picture. Remember, on a 50" 1080P TV, the resolution is only 1920x1080 pixels, which is a lot for TV but not so much for a computer monitor which displays at a much higher resolution. In fact, a 1920x1080 pixel dimension is equivalent to most average 23"-25" computer monitors (my 30" is 2560x1600 pixels, significantly higher resolution than 1080p). In other words, a big TV just enlarges what you see on the monitor, but it doesn't necessarily give you more "real estate". Take that into consideration when buying a display.
Also remember, just because it's an LCD monitor doesn't mean it's going to be good. The higher end the monitor, the more accurate the color and the crisper and clear the image. If you need to calibrate your display to match an output device, don't expect to get good accurate color from a budget $150 monitor, it's not likely to happen in most cases. The better/more accurate color/image you need, the higher the price. NEC, Samsung, Apple, Lacie, Dell and others all have excellent high-end options that are highly calibrate-able.
trakers
New Member
I have found in practice many (non-geek*) people who buy larger 24"+ monitors end up running them at non-native resolutions because at those extremely high resolutions things like in icons and text are tiny. This is especially true amounts the aging folks.
We find that a pixel-mapped 1080p display is perfect on 32" monitors that sit 3 feet away.
* We geeks revere monitor resolution right up there with pe**s length and enjoy holding pissing contests on who's is bigger.
We find that a pixel-mapped 1080p display is perfect on 32" monitors that sit 3 feet away.
* We geeks revere monitor resolution right up there with pe**s length and enjoy holding pissing contests on who's is bigger.
phototec
New Member
I offered my suggestion from experience, I fell pray to a Google search for FREE fonts, the site offered real good free fonts, my father told me when I was young, "That nothing is FREE", I should have remembered his words. As soon as I selected the FREE font I wanted to download, bingo, my computer was hit just that fast, and the virus took over my PC, started deleting files like crazy, it also embedded it's self very deep in the operating system, no one could fix or cure the malicious virus, believe me I tried all the known anti-virus remedy's.
Bottom line, I had to scratch everything on my design computer, lost 20 years worth of fonts collected, and reinstall Windows operating system. You know the saying something about you can screw me once, but not twice, etc. Well, I have been screwed once, not again!
I look at it this way, I have been driving since 1966, a few small fender benders, never a major car accident, but I have had driving insurance all theses years and not really needed it, I have a Million dollar policy, if I get into a serious car accident, I mean real bad, and I end up in the hospital for a long time or paralyzed, I will have the insurance to cover my expenses.
All these guys who use the same PC in their sign business, for design, customer files, etc, and have it connected to the internet, ONE day the will get a virus, there are mild ones and then there are the real bad viruses, if you get the real bad one you will get screwed, head my advice.
Another tip: I have all my master graphic project files, stored on a RAID mirror hard drive that is not in the design PC, it's an external mirrored HHD, because back in 2004, lightning struck a transformer on a power pole across the street from me, and the electrical surge took out my design PC, hard drive and killed the PC. Yea, I now have all three PC running off a battery back-up/surge protectors, but I like having all my customers files on the RAID mirror HHD, because here in Texas we get allot of bad weather, during the last Tornado warning, I grab the external 2TB RAID HHD and unplug the USB from the PC, put it into a Pelican Case for protection. One time a tornado was coming our way, grabbed the wife, dog and the Pelican case and drove away from the tornado's path, it turned away from my location, but if it would have wiped out everything, you can purchase a New PC and software, etc, but NOT your master graphics files.
You can find info on Pelican Storm Cases here
http://www.pelican.com/cases_detail_storm.php?Case=iM2050
Brandon708
New Member
here it is
Attachments
WildWestDesigns
Active Member
One thing though, atleast with me, is that once you start the dark path of more then one monitor setup it is very hard to go back down, especially back down to one monitor. I really liked Brandon's HP monitor, but I just don't know if I could do a single monitor setup again.
Pinfinity
New Member
WildWest...I'm currently using 2 monitors but they are older dells and only 19 and 22". i could never be without two monitors and I'm considering a third. I am in a quandry on what to purchase. I like 23". I'm looking for recommendations on a moderate priced for three especially with black friday upon us? Thanx WWD